Media and Society Practice Test 2026 – Complete Exam Prep Resource

Defamation hinges on false statements about a person that harm their reputation and are communicated to others as if they were facts. That combination of falsity and reputational damage is what makes a statement defaming. Truth is a defense, so a true statement—even if it harms someone—wouldn’t be defamation. Likewise, opinions are usually protected when they’re clearly presented as personal viewpoints rather than factual claims; they can become defamatory only if they are stated as facts about someone and are false. Public records themselves aren’t defaming simply by existing, since they’re records of information; defamation would depend on false statements about someone that are presented as facts within or outside those records.